How to Watch College Football Without Cable

College football is in the air – and if you dislike cable television as much as I do, then the number one question on your mind is probably “How do I watch college football without cable?”

The good news for you is that it has never been easier for cord-cutters to tune into college football without an expensive cable bill, and today I am going to discuss every option available. Keep reading to learn how to watch college football games online throughout the whole season!

Don’t want to read the whole guide? Sling TV (free 7-day trial) is my top pick to watch college football online without cable as it carries all ESPN networks, national & regional FOX Sports and NBC Sports channels, conference networks (SEC, Pac 12, etc.), and more. It’s also worth noting that Sling TV is currently offering 40% off the first month of service.

College Football Channels

Before we get into how exactly you can watch college football without cable, let’s talk about the television networks that you’re going to need to have access to. With a few exceptions, you’ll find that most college football games air on the following networks:

ESPN+ (not a channel, but a service in itself – see our ESPN+ review for more details)

Overall, the ESPN family of networks is the most important, as ESPN hosts the majority of college football (approximately 80% or more!). This is particularly true for the bigger teams and more popular conferences. So you will definitely want to make sure that you have access to ESPN and ESPN’s other networks, like ACC Network, SEC Network, ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPNU, BTN, and others. You can stream all of these with Sling TV (free 7-day trial) or other services that I’ll discuss in-depth below.

Also, new for the 2019 season, NCAA football fans will probably want access to ESPN+, a new service from ESPN itself. This service provides exclusive access to some games, mostly from lower-tier schools. I’ll talk about it in more detail in a section below.

Now that you know where the action is, let’s take a look at how to watch college football online and over-the-air.

College Football TV Schedule

There are a lot of schedules online but NCAA.com is usually a good place to check.ESPN also has a good schedule available on their site.

You will want to reference the NCAA football schedule before deciding on a viewing strategy. There are a LOT of channels that broadcast college football, and it can differ quite a bit from team to team. So, I recommend looking for a schedule for the team(s) you like to follow, to check which networks their games usually air on.

Now, let’s move on to the actual methods you can use to watch college football without cable TV!

Watch College Football with an Antenna

One of the cornerstones of your cord-cutting college football setup is going to be the over-the-air antenna. With an OTA antenna, you will be able to pick ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX (although the networks you get will depend on where you live, and the quality of your antenna). OTA antennas are cheap, there are no monthly fees, and everything you watch will show up in 1080i HD.

Typically, you’re going to see a lot of prime time games airing on ABC and FOX. For your SEC fix, CBS is going to be your go-to destination; and for all things Notre Dame, NBC is where you want to be. Sometimes what you want to watch will depend on where you are and occasionally there will be blackouts, so be sure to check which game airs a few days prior to kickoff.

Here is a link to an article on NCAA.com that seems to keep a pretty good list of upcoming games, along with what channels they will air on.

Keep in mind that antennas ONLY cover games on NBC/FOX/CBS/ABC. For games airing on ESPN and all the other college football channels, you’ll need another option – find out more below.

Also, remember that antenna reception varies a lot depending on where you live. If you live near a major city, you’ll probably get most of the networks you want. If you’re more rural, you may find that you only get 1 or 2 of the major networks, if that. You can use online tools to get an idea of what channels you may pick up in your area.

8 Ways to Watch College Football Online

Online streaming services are a great way to watch college football online. In recent years the rise of live television streaming has given way to previously cable-only channels, like ESPN, to become part of the live streaming lineup.

Because college sports are a lot more fragmented than the professionals, it’s going to be difficult to catch EVERY single college game. Aside from the physical limitations of watching every game on Saturday, different services will simply offer you access to different NCAA conferences.

To help you out with your search for that perfect college football friendly streaming service, here’s a quick rundown of the available live television streaming services that are good to watch college football without cable.

1. College Football on Sling TV

Sling TV (free 7-day trial) is a budget-friendly online streaming service that offers a good way to watch college football games online. It offers two primary subscription plans; Sling Orange and Sling Blue. Both are available for $25 per month. You can also get both plans for $40 a month and get all of the channels included in the Orange and Blue plans. (Note: Sling TV is currently running a 40% off promo for the first month of service. You can get either Blue or Orange for $15, or both for $25.)

Here are some of the most important college football channels that you get with each plan:

Sling TV Orange

ESPN

ESPN 2

ESPN 3

ACC Network

Sling TV Blue

FOX Network (in select areas)

NBC Network (in select areas)

Local FOX Sports stations (in select areas)

Local NBC Sports stations (in select areas)

FS1

FS2

NBC Sports Network

In addition to the two plans, you can pay $10 extra for a sports add-on and get additional channels that air college football. What channels come with the sports add-on will depend on which main plan you’re subscribed to, however, there is a bit of overlap.

Here’s what the sports-add on looks like for both plans.

Sports Extra Orange

SEC Network

SEC Network+

ESPNU

ESPNEWS

ESPN Goal Line

PAC-12 Network

LHN (Longhorn Network)**

BeIN Sports

Other sports networks, like NHL Network, ESPN Bases Loaded, MLB Network and more

Sports Extra Blue

PAC-12 Network

Other sports networks, like Tennis Channel, NBA TV, MLB Network and more

**This is technically not included in the subscription, but you can access LHN content through the WatchESPN app using your Sling TV credentials.

The bottom line is this: Sling TV is the most affordable way to watch college football games without cable. Technically an antenna is cheaper, BUT, antennas offer fairly limited coverage of CFB as they don’t include any of the ESPN channels.

Hulu is perhaps the most complete way to watch college football without cable. It includes many of the most important channels you’ll need to keep up, all in one package. Not only does it cover ESPN’s network of channels, but it offers NBC, FOX, CBS and ABC in most areas. While Sling and other similar services do offer these channels in some areas, nobody currently has as good of coverage as Hulu Live TV.

And while it’s more expensive than Sling TV, Hulu still offers excellent value. This is particularly true if you consider the fact that Hulu Live TV comes with the original Hulu, which is a huge on-demand library of thousands of entertainment options (similar to Netflix).

3. Cheap College Football with ESPN+

ESPN+ is a new service that comes directly from ESPN itself. It’s available without a cable subscription, and costs only $4.99 per month. The service provides limited access to some live college football games. The games are mostly from less popular/lower-tier schools. But for $5 a month, it’s a service that’s well worth having for any sports fan.

Keep in mind that ESPN+ is definitely not a full-fledged way to watch live college football. It’s meant to supplement other sources, as much of the content on ESPN+ is exclusively on ESPN+. At the same time, you won’t see big primetime games airing on this service, so it’s far from a complete solution.

4. College Football with PlayStation Vue

PlayStation Vue has four different plans you can subscribe to, but we really only need to focus on the first three since the most expensive plan only adds on a few premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime. The three plans you need to familiarize yourself with are the Access, Core, and Elite subscription plans.

If you have the Core plan or above, you can pay an extra $10 a month to get the Sports Pack; which includes several useful channels, like Longhorn Network and FOX College Sports.

Overall, Vue is a good option, as it covers tons of useful sports networks for NCAA football fans. It’s also a good service for the whole family, because it carries a wide range of channels and even on-demand content.

5. College Football Online with YouTube TV

YouTube TV (free trial) is another option. There’s only 1 plan, but it offers a good selection of channels to watch CFB games without cable. This is a newer service that’s still ironing out some kinks, but it’s definitely worth considering.

6. College Football on fuboTV

fuboTV (free trial) is an online streaming service designed primarily for fans who want to watch sports without cable. Although those fans tend to be soccer fans, there is a decent collection of college football and other sports, as well. There are several different subscription plans, but you really only need to pay attention to the $55 a month fubo plan; as the others are primarily dedicated to international sports.

Keep in mind that fuboTV does NOT carry ESPN or any ESPN-owned networks. This is a notable downside for college football fans. That said, it’s still a good option for sports fans in general, and a decent way to watch college football without cable.

7. College Football on AT&T TV NOW

AT&T TV NOW (free trial) is another streaming service that’s similar to many we’ve already discussed. Keep in mind that this service was formerly known as DIRECTV NOW, but it’s since been rebranded to AT&T TV NOW.

There are 2 channel packages available. Plus is $50 per month, while Max is $70. Here’s what each plan has to offer you:

Plus – 45+ channels

ESPN

ESPN2

FS1

FOX (select markets)

NBC (select markets)

CBS (select markets)

ABC (select markets)

Max – 60+ channels

Big Ten Network

CBS Sports Network

ESPN

ESPN2

ESPNews

ESPNU

FOX (select markets)

NBC (select markets)

CBS (select markets)

ABC (select markets)

FS1

FS2

SEC Network

Overall, AT&T TV NOW is a decent way to stream college football without cable TV. It’s more expensive than some options, however. For the best coverage you’ll want the Max plan, which is $70 a month – and not all that much cheaper than cable.

8. College Sports Live

College Sports Live (free trial) is an online streaming service dedicated to providing you with complete coverage of all college sports from 50 schools across the nation. This is a great service for people that follow smaller schools or just want a little extra coverage. The only catch is that it airs non-televised events, which means if your school is playing on ESPN, you can not stream it on College Sports Live.

You can either pay $10 a month for College Sports Live or you can pay $100 for the entire year. If you love other college sports besides basketball, this is definitely worth a look. It’s far from a complete solution, though.

Listen to College Football

If all else fails, and you just can’t find the game you’re looking for, or you are really strapped on cash then you might want to turn to the radio. Most games will have live audio coverage, and more often than not schools will stream the radio broadcast online on the team’s website.

Barring that, you can always use online radio apps, such as TuneIn, to find local broadcasts of the team you’re looking for. TuneIn has one of the widest selections of terrestrial radio stations and best of all, its free.

You can search by location, language, topic, and more. It’s super easy to find everything and you don’t need an incredibly fast connection in order to stream. If you’ve got a little imagination, it’s the perfect penny-pinching cable TV alternative.

Watching College Football Without Cable

Sometimes watching college football without cable can seem tricky, but with help from today’s guide, you should have no problem finding the game of your choice at a price you can afford to stomach.

If you need a quick recap, here’s my recommendation: Sign up for a streaming service like Sling TV (free 7-day trial) or Hulu with Live TV. This will give you most of the channels you need to watch tons of college football action, alongside other sports, news and entertainment. All these services are non-contract, so you can cancel at any time if it doesn’t work out.

What’s your favorite NCAA conference? SEC? Big Ten? Or maybe something a little smaller? Let us know in the comments below or sound off on social media!